TORONTO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar gained
sharply against its U.S. counterpart on Friday after Canada
added a surprisingly robust 39,800 jobs in December, but the
stronger move was hindered by a relatively subdued rate of
hiring in the United States.

Canada defied expectations with the outsized gains, all of
which came in full-time jobs and mostly in the private sector.

Meanwhile, the pace of hiring by U.S. employers eased
slightly last month.

"The U.S. data are a slight disappointment," said Doug
Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. "If we
had a combination of both a strong Canada and strong U.S., the
Canadian dollar would be absolutely flying right now."

At 9:15 a.m. (1415 GMT) the Canadian dollar was
trading at C$0.9858 to the greenback, or $1.0144, compared with
C$0.9880, or $1.0121, at Thursday's North American close. It was
at C$0.9910 just before the dual jobs data were released.
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